President Weah Declares Saturday, August 24, 2019 as National Flag Day -Calls on Liberians to Join In Observance of the Day

His Excellency President George Manneh Weah
Photo Credit: Public Affairs Bureau

The President of the Republic of Liberia, His Excellency Dr. George Manneh Weah has by Proclamation declared Saturday, August 24, 2019 as National Flag Day and is to be celebrated as a National Holiday throughout the Republic.

The observance will be marked by the hoisting of the National Flag from each dwelling and public building across the nation.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Government offices, public and business houses are to remain closed during the observance.

The Proclamation ordered the Ministry of Education and other relevant government agencies concerned to design appropriate programs befitting the occasion.

The Proclamation is in consonance with an Act approved on October 25, 1915 by the National Legislature of the Republic of Liberia, declaring the 24th Day of August of each year as “National Flag Day” to be observed as a National Holiday.

The Day is commemorated annually by citizens of the Republic in testimony of their allegiance and loyalty to the National Ensign which is an embodiment of the nation’s existence as a sovereign entity and to encourage national pride and patriotism.

The National Flag was designed and produced by a committee of ladies led by Mrs. Susannah Lewis who were talented and visionary citizens of the Republic at the time.

According to the Proclamation, the making of the National Flag of the Republic was a historic event of great significance for Liberia as Africa’s Pacesetter in the struggle for self-determination and inspiration to future African States.

The Proclamation also recounted that the National Ensign of the Republic of Liberia is a visible evidence of the country’s sovereignty and independence as well as a symbol of pride and dignity within the comity of nations.

The Liberian Flag consists of six red stripes and five alternating white stripes, totaling eleven stripes, each representing one of the eleven signers of the Declaration of Independence of Liberia; the blue field, in the upper left corner of a rectangular form with a single white star in the center of the blue field, depicting Liberia as the then only independent state on the continent of Africa; the color red symbolizes the blood of those who died in the struggle for independence; the color white indicates the purity of mind of all our fore bearers toward each other; and the Blue for the dark continent of Africa as it was then depicted, the Proclamation further declared.